Monday, September 19, 2022

The Death of Queen Elizabeth II

September 8, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II has died.

Like many I viewed a fleeting headline on the way out of the house and was surprised at the feelings I was left with. I was actually surprised that I had feelings. As someone born in the United States, I’m a bit constitutionally uncomfortable with things like monarchy and royalty and kings and queens and princes and princesses … unless we’re talking about fantasy and fairy tales.

But I did have feelings of sadness and interest. I had a trip to the hair salon and asked the young stylist if she’d heard the news. A bit embarrassed. The queen was 96 and the stylist was young, in her 20s likely. Would she care about something like the passing of Queen Elizabeth II? But she'd heard of the queen’s death and she had feelings about it too and she believed her death would have “the butterfly effect”. And when she said that, I thought she was right.

And she told me about the queen meeting Marilyn Monroe.

You can find the pictures on the internet.

It was much later in the day that I was back on my computer and began to scan more of the headlines and video clips on YouTube. I was surprised to learn that Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning monarch in British History, 70 years. 

I was not surprised by that time to learn that there were outpourings of sadness throughout the world.

And so in death, more people will hear about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her life. More people will become aware of her story. And in a world that seems to care little for elders, there’s something refreshing about seeing people of all ages mourn her death, even if the mourning is only fleeting.

September 19, 2022. The State Funeral.

Her life and the meaning of it will now live on in the ethers and we can all and will make of it what we will. 

“Death”—Hades raised a finger—“the last breath is transformational. Well beyond the cliches—dust to dust, cradle to grave—the physical demise of the individual transforms the living—always a multitude—and that impact is ever unpredictable.

“Consider the death of your own mother.”

Ryder startled.

“The ripple effect of her death, the waves of transformation wrought by the end of her individual life are still lapping at the shores of the Whole, are they not?” Hades walked with his hands behind his back. “Not only has her death deeply affected you, but it affected Shilda and Garrick—if your mother had lived they wouldn’t have had the delight of watching over you all those years. And your father—if your mother hadn’t died when and how she did, he’d still be the head of the Order of the Idonnai. Think of poor Sister Delilah who never delivered another child. And all the citizens of Idonne who may now tramp through the priesthood’s precious library, and all the females who are now free to enter the citadel. It’s almost as though our lives are nothing, as though the moment of death is our true birth, when our true meaning to the Whole is finally exposed.” War & Grace, Heidi Garrett

And did you know?

Born in 1926, the lady was a tiger.

Does this explain the invisible cloak of independence she wore as she moved among the peoples of the world, keeping her own counsel?

Saturday, May 28, 2022

The End of the Enchantment: Johnny Depp v Amber Heard and the Jupiter-Neptune Conjunction in Pisces

A very dark fairy tale about a younger woman enchanting an older man. Or something else altogether? The very public defamation cases began the day before the exact conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces (JNcP) on April 12, 2022. This particular astrological configuration happens once about every 166 years. Its occurrence is so infrequent its passage would seem to herald some significant shift in the collective consciousness. 

Within the time frame of the last JNcP, the Abolitionist Movement (1830-1870) was well established by March 1856, and its campaign to end institutionalized slavery in the United States would ultimately prove successful, turning the tide of Neptunian consciousness against the abhorrent and untenable sanctioned practice of the dehumanization of one race by another. [Note: All research and quotes in this post regarding the history of slavery in the United States are from History.com]

During the few years before and after the actual JNcP, the federal government passed more laws which further entrenched institutionalized slavery in the United States. In 1850, Congress passed The Fugitive Slave Act which "required all escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners and American citizens to cooperate with the captures.” In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that “Black people—free or enslaved—didn’t have legal citizenship rights.” 

However, as the conjunction drew close and passed, these outcomes outraged members of the Abolitionist Movement and anyone who supported it so that fierce opposition was galvanized:

“Founded in 1854 as a coalition opposing the extension of slavery into Western territories, the Republican Party fought to protect the rights of African Americans after the Civil War.”

And in the actual year of the conjunction, 1856:

“In one of the most heated moments in the debate, proslavery Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina, resorted to beating antislavery Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with his cane on the Senate floor.”

Neptune travels slowly, and the Civil War which began in 1861 lasted through 1865. In 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and in 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery in the United States was ratified by Congress: Nine years after the exact Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces. It’s significant that the physical assault by Preston Brooks against Charles Sumner happened so close to the actual conjunction, within 60 days.

It’s likely that the verdict for the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard cases (JDvAH) will be delivered by June 11—within 60 days of this most recent JNcP. Brooks assault on Sumner was a personal one, but it erupted from the depths of a delusional and noxious belief system: that one human can own another.

An interesting point of timing for the current JNcP conjunction is that Amber Heard sought a Temporary Restraining Order against Johnny Depp 6 years ago, on May 27, 2016. The inception of #MeToo is reported as 2006. Similarly, in alignment with the prior JNcP, the Abolitionist Movement and individual expressions of the conflicts surrounding it, spanned a period of time. These tidal movements, along with their individual expressions, surfaced and swelled over a considerable period of time from the human perspective of a 70-80 year life, but in the blink of an eye from a cosmic perspective.

So what is the underlying issue we might be facing now? Another oceanic wave of facing human brutality: another representation of accepted practices of interpersonal violence. In the past decades, researchers like Bessel Van Der Kolk have increasingly shifted beyond the concept of Post-Traumatic Stress caused by a singular event to Developmental Trauma caused by: uhm … the way we “raise” our children?!?!

Interpersonal violence involves the intentional use of physical force or power against other persons by an individual or small group of individuals. Interpersonal violence may be physical, sexual, or psychological (also called emotional violence), and it may involve deprivation and neglect. 

Interpersonal violence is a pervasive public health, human rights, and development challenge (Rosenberg and others 2006). Its effects reverberate through families, communities, and nations and across generations. It is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in most parts of the world. Exposure to interpersonal violence increases individuals’ lifelong vulnerability to a broad range of emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems. Interpersonal violence directly affects health care expenditures worldwide; indirectly, it affects national and local economies—stunting development, increasing inequality, and eroding human capital (WHO 2008). Injury Prevention and Environmental Health James A. Mercy, Susan D. Hillis, Alexander Butchart, Mark A. Bellis, Catherine L. Ward, Xiangming Fang, and Mark L. Rosenberg

It seems everyone can agree that both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard experienced developmental trauma in their respective childhood home environments. My best guess is that their defamation cases, playing out so sensationally, so publicly, and so globally are doing so precisely because: SO MANY OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED AND/OR BEEN PERSONALLY TOUCHED BY DEVELOPMENTAL TRAUMA and/or INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

Is the 166-year cycle seeded each time Jupiter conjuncts Neptune in Pisces about facing some ugliness that lies beneath the surface (Neptune), and expanding it in such a way (Jupiter) that the collective can no longer deny that ugliness, and so resolve it through a real evolution and transformation of first individual, and then collective consciousness? Evolution and transformation to higher levels of consciousness being the province of Pisces.

A bit more of the JNcP specifics of JDvAH:

  1. BEAUTY & GLAMOUR/Hollywood: Neptune in Pisces: What is truly beauty/beautiful? And when are looks deceiving? 
  2. MONEY/MONEY/MONEY Pisces and Neptune are the realms of water and both these actors made the bulk of their fortunes in watery films: Pirates Of The Caribbean/Aquaman
  3. LOVE & CHARITY: Neptune in Pisces: Sublime merging or drowning? And is charity truly charity when it's self-promotion?
  4. REALITY: What is it? It can be really hard to grasp as Neptune dissolves and/or shifts the very ground we stand on and of course the Neptunian-Piscean escapism into drugs, drugs, and more drugs.
  5. The TRUTH-INTEGRITY of Jupiter v. the LIES-DECEPTION of Neptune's dark side.
  6. The Psychiatric/Psychological Industry: Neptune in Pisces is the domain of “mental illness”. Neptune conjunct Jupiter could be “mental illness” writ large. Or maybe the inaccuracy? unreliability? of psychological diagnoses. The psychiatric industry practice of creating victims and itself perpetrating trauma through labeling and projection.
  7. Victimhood: What is victimhood? What and when is someone a victim? Is victimhood addictive? So very Neptune in Pisces.
  8. Jupiter is the domain of Law and also What We Believe. Jupiter conjuncting Neptune can open us to new ways of considering and taking action regarding any and all of the items listed in 1-7. Rarely without plenty of confusion and uncertainty first.
Update 6/03/22: And the final question: Is purposely shaping a narrative by removing significant facts, presenting other facts completely out of context, and repeatedly making baseless claims about another individual, any individual, an act of interpersonal violence? And if the answer is: yes, then are ALL the highly paid functionaries of mainstream media perpetrators of a 24x7 stream of interpersonal violence?

Perhaps we should all give thanks to the numerous lawyers of YouTube who provided actual legal commentary on the trial, among them: legal bytes, andrea burkhart, natalielawyerchick, hoeg law, and emily d. baker, for protecting us from one more assault.

By all accounts:
into the courtroom,
light shined,
thunder rolled.
And cleansing rain fell.

Lest we ever forget the glorious Camille Vasquez.

Though she be little, she is fierce — William Shakespeare 

HALLELUJAH. 

Friday, May 27, 2022

The Girl Who Watched for Elves: Audiobook

The Girl Who Watched For Elves, A Fairy Tale Short has been rendered into Audiobook format on Google Play! 

Stay tuned for the release of other Audiobooks in the Once Upon A Time Today collection: 

Dreaming of the Sea

The Tree Hugger

and

I am Lilly Dane

Friday, April 1, 2022

A Thousand Years Prayer

 As Jupiter approaches Neptune in Pisces we can imagine ...


a humanity in harmony with Nature, Mother Earth, the galaxy, the universe, the Cosmos.